Bristol Jewish Community

City of Bristol

Bristol, the major city of the West of England with a
population of about 400,000, is situated near the eastern end of the Bristol
Channel and has a short coast line along the southern coast of the channel,
facing Wales. Bristol is unique in having been a city with county status
since medieval times (it was named a county borough when the term was created in
1889), with only a short break, from 1974 to 1996, when it became a local
government district of the short-lived county of Avon. It regained its
independence and county status in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished
and Bristol became a unitary authority.

Barton Road (St Phillips) in use
from c. 1750, with last burial in 1944. Approximately
160 are included in the above Database.

Great Gardens
(Rose Street), small cemetery in use from mid-1800s
until 1911. In 1924, 27 graves and headstones
re-interred in Ridgeway Cemetery.

Ridgeway Cemetery, Eastville - the currently active
Jewish cemetery in Bristol. First burial 1898. Approximately 640 burials
(up to 2003) are included in the above Database, as are
most burial certificates..

On-line Articles
and Other Material
relating to the Bristol Jewish Community

on JCR-UK

"Jewish Tombstone Inscriptions in S.
W. England - Studies in Anglo-Jewish History No. 3", by Rabbi Dr.
Bernard Susser, includes an
Introduction that makes reference to Bristol.
Part of the Susser Archive.

The Jews of Bristol by Alex
Schlesinger (pdf - 1.2mb)
- A summary of the Community's history, as published in a fund-raising
brochure the Bristol Hebrew Congregation from the 1970s

Provincial
Jewry in Victorian Britain - papers for a conference
at University College, London, convened by the Jewish Historical
Society of England, prepared by Aubrey Newman - 6th July 1975.

Papers on Bristol, which includes the
article "Victorian
Jewry in Bristol" by Alex Schlesinger, a more detailed summary of the Community's history
during the Victorian era. Also available is a
pdf version (2.3mb), which appeared in a
fund-raising brochure of the Bristol Hebrew Congregation.

Bristol Hebrew Ladies' Benevolent Society
(founded 1845) to relieve the poor families resident in Bristol
above one year pecuniary or otherwise during confinement, sickness,
mourning, general distress, and at the festivals, also for he
education and clothing of children.

Social and Debating Society (founded 1894).

* As listed in the Jewish Directory of 1874 and the Jewish Year
Books 1896 & 1900.

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